I am getting over one of the worst 'colds' ever. I may have had influenza, but I am not sure. Both Scott and I were stuck in bed, him for two days and he got better within four days or so; I was in bed for about five days and up coughing most of the night for about a week. I'd then sleep all day if I could. I missed some days of work and forced myself to go in on other days, mostly because I could not miss class those days. It's been over two weeks now and I am still fighting this crude. Needless to say I have not been able to do much. Initially I could do nothing at all, except sleep all day. After about a week I could get out and walk, but then I'd have to keep my mouth covered as the cold air really irritated my lungs. I finally got out for a ski a week ago and it was so slow it was almost painful. I couldn't go any faster though, so after 50 minutes I called it a day. I had a little better ski the day after and have not felt that great since. Scott and I rode our bikes this morning on the snowmobile trails. Surprisingly, I felt ok going slow. I actually felt better riding my bike than walking up this monster hill on our loop to get back home. I'm past frustrated as I can only do what my body will allow. This is almost worse than when I was overtrained in college. My energy levels are in the toilet and I nap a lot. In the past I could usually push through being tired to get stuff done. Not with this. I have to lay down and sleep. I missed the opportunity to ski with Kim Eppen today at the Birkie. It would have been a blast! I would have held her back. Yesterday my skis were so slow that my legs felt fried afterward. I barely made it around the 10K loop. I'm doing what I can to get better. It's just taking forever!

Scott and I have had a really busy month! XC skiing was fantastic until we got rain a week ago. There is still good skiing at one or two places in Duluth (Snowflake and maybe Spirit). Coaching is going well. Our men's team is having a banner year, while our women's team unfortunately suffered a few injuries - one a broken wrist. Our girls team is pretty small compared to the guys team, hopefully that will build. We have been skiing quite a bit up until the rain came. Scott came home soaked from skiing in the rain that night. Otherwise, we have had really cold weather where it is easier to ski and stay warm than bike. The rain did bring good riding conditions so this weekend we have plans to ride a bit. I love my new Paragon. Scott has been borrowing it a bit. He rode it for his 'bike skills' class as part of interim for middle school students where he teaches. He and another teacher have a blast getting the kids riding obstacle courses set up in the gym. My knobby tires work well enough that I don't need studs while riding outside. It is finally snowing today, which should make it more difficult to see the icy patches.

We will have a few new faces on the team this year. Should be interesting, but fun as always!

Scott and I were gone recently for US Nordic Nationals in Houghton, MI for the CSS Nordic Ski Team we are helping coach. We had a great week. The snow conditions were great along with temps. Our athletes had a rough showing due to a flu that hit the night before the first race and then spread through most of our team. We had a few good results as well. I had not been to a US Nationals for skiing since 1994. A few of my former NMU teammates are now coaching, so it was good to catch up with them. One of the coaches for our CSS team was also a former NMU teammate. I miss ski racing a little, but still not sure if I would ever race again. The bike season is really long and in order to be a really good skier one has to train properly, including a lot of rollerskiing. I rollerskied this year with our CSS team for the first time in maybe 5 years. I have fun helping others develop ski technique.

We have gotten a ton of snow this winter so the nordic skiing has been fantastic! Scott and I have been skiing for over a month now consistently. Scott is convinced biking makes him weak and skiing makes him strong. My arms always seem pretty sore and tired from skiing. It is a very good workout!

Other than skiing and coaching I am getting ready to start the next semester. Last semester was really tough with coaching, teaching, and being in grad school. Hopefully, this semester will be a bit better. I hope the weather stays good for skiing. It is so nice to have a real midwest winter!

Here is my new winter bike. I got the photo from the www.fisherbikes.com web site. I have not gotten a chance to ride it yet as the weather turned too warm and I don't want my first ride on it in the slush. It is supposed to snow later tonight and into tomorrow (up to a foot, but that much is a stretch) so give the snow a few days to set up and the temps to drop - perfect riding weather. My small Paragon geometry is very similar to my med Trek racing bike. All I do is put on a 90 mm stem and the Paragon is ready to go. It fits great and I love a 29er for winter riding.

I hope to have some in-action photos soon........

It looks like this again in Duluth. We got about 12" a few weeks ago followed up with 16" more a few days after that. We were busy shoveling and then, of course, cross-country skiing since. The trails are in fantastic condition! That is why I have not blogged. We are too busy skiing, coaching, finishing my grad class, and working! It is soooo nice to have snow this early. At first there was so much snow we could only snowshoe (before the ski trails were groomed). One day it seems like all I did was shovel. It was fantastic! I love snow.

Coaching the nordic ski team is going really well. Scott and I are having a blast and we are really impressed with the athletes. We ski at various trail systems during the week and then others on the weekend as much as possible. We usually ski at Spirit Mtn and Magney - both of which are great trail systems (and connected so one can ski a lot of K in one day and not get bored).

My new winter bike should be arriving soon. A Gary Fisher Paragon 29er. Light Blue. I cannot wait to ride it! The trails are all set to go as long as I have a bike to ride. I have some new winter riding tights to try out as well. Hopefully, the snowboarders have been busy boarding on our bike trails next to the groomed runs at Spirit Mtn. They pack the trail in and make for great riding. The snowmobilers do a great job on the snowmobile trails of packing them in as well. It has been really cold here for quite some time now, so skiing is the way to go. Once it gets around 0 degrees F, it gets pretty tough to stay warm on a bike. Even at 10 above it can be tough if the sun is not out.

Work is super busy. Finals are next week for our students so there are lots of things to get done beside prepare exams, post grades, etc, etc. My grad class is pretty much finished - thank God! I learned a great deal and had great classmates of which I learned a lot from as well, but it took a lot of time and I found I had to be extremely efficient with my time and cut out other things for a while.

Well, more work to do. With the holiday season upon us and our shopping just started today, we have a lot more to do. Thankfully, not too much. Can't say I really like to shop. Hopefully, I'll get our camera out on the trails to share some cool photos. All I have been taking photos of lately is one of our two cats sprawled out and belly up in front of our wood pellet stove. Funny how one cat loves it and the other won't go near it.

Yesterday was my first ride since the Iceman. My right shoulder was killing me on Monday and Tuesday this week. I couldn't believe how sore it was. I couldn't sleep very well for a couple of nights. Then I put some electrical stimulation on it at work. What a relief! I can avoid taking ibuprofen and slap that machine on instead.

Our ride went fine along the road, my shoulder was a bit sore just putting weight through it, but tolerable. If we would have stuck to the road, it would have been fine, but we rode the railroad grade and then had to climb up Grady's downhill (part of the MNSCS Spirit Mtn course). I had to get off a few times as I couldn't pull up on my bars enough to be effective to climb the hill. I probably hurt it worse than I originally thought, but I still think it is mostly bruised. I hit the ground so hard when I fell! There was so much adrenaline at the time that I didn't realize just how hard that was. I have been running all week instead and have to hold my elbow bent to prevent jarring my shoulder. Kinda crazy. Hopefully, it will heal up quick. There was a blanket of snow on the ground when we woke, which lifted my spirits. Winter is on the way!

Scott is at the CX MN Champ in the twin cities without me today. I can't race cuz I can't hang on to my bike well enough and have good enough control of my bike. It'd be dangerous for me and for others around me as I would be more likely to lose control and not regain it. I hope he does well. He had a bit of a rough go at the Iceman. He bonked hard with 7 mils to go. He can't seem to keep his chain on his bike and after dropping it three times and then catching back up to his group, hit the wall. Once he did that he limped in.

Scott and I headed to the Iceman Cometh in Traverse City, MI this past weekend. After working 1/2 a day on Friday we made it to Mackinaw City where we stayed overnight then drove the rest of the way Saturday morning. We got there in time to pick up our packets, hang out a bit, then get ready for the race.

It was mid-40s and sunny during the warm up and I got too hot, so I took off some of my clothing I was planning on racing in. I didn't feel very good during the warm-up; mostly lethargic. I could tell Scott didn't want to tell me I was going slow. My bike worked fine and Scott dialed in the shifting. I was all set to go.

This year they didn't do call-ups for women, but luckily I still got on the front row. Once the guy said "go" I missed my pedal or something and ended up behind another rider anyways. We had just gotten up to top speed when one rider cut off anther rider right in front of me, she jacknifed her front wheel and endo'd right in front of me. It happened so fast that I was on top of her flying, crashing hard, and then getting run over by another handful of women. Our bikes were tangled. I finally got up and got my seat out of another gals spokes and then got on my bike. The bars were so far twisted they were almost pointing back wards! Luckily, DJ from Clif Bar was right there and helped me turn them back. I don't think I could have done that one my own. So there I was the last woman to get back on her bike, with 27.5 miles to go and the lead group long long gone! I started picking off riders and it seemed each one took alot to catch. A few riders latched on and after about 4 miles I finally bridged up to Kyia and Heather I. I rode behind them for long enough to rest just a bit, looked back and realized a few women hung onto me. I passed Kyia and mentioned how we needed to 'drop the rest of the group'. We were together for another few miles and then I don't know what happened, all the sudden I was alone and chasing down some men in front of me. When I crashed my right shifter was bent, along with my deraileur, so I only had a few gears in each chain ring to work with. My gears would skip going uphill so I had to go up in a much harder gear than I wanted to. I finally caught up and passed fourth place and was sitting in third for most of the race. #63 and I would change places pulling, the gal behind me even pulled once. I was using way too much energy getting up hills and would lose my momentum due to my bike deciding to shift on its own. It wasn't until much later in the race (about 3 miles to go) that I realized I could go up the hills in my small chain ring (Duh) that too slowly realized solution may have cost me one or two places. With about 12 miles to go or so I started getting cold! The sun tucked itself behind the clouds. I was working hard to try and stay warm. I could see the second place woman about 30 seconds up and was trying to catch her with about 7 miles or so do go. I tried to bridge the gap and was making some progress when we hit more hills with about 5 miles to go, and realized my legs were shot. I was trying to hang in there, but the guys I was with only wanted a free ride, #63 had dropped me when I couldn't shift well enough to get up a hill and the rest of the group with him, including the woman that drafted off our group the majority of the race after I caught her. Then I dropped my water bottle and limped in as best I could. I really gave a good effort and am pleased with how hard I worked to get the place I did. It could have been much worse, or worse yet, I could have gotten seriously injured during that crash. I crossed the line in fourth, with dried blood 1/2 down my shin from a gash in my knee, my right hip bruised. It wasn't until later that evening, after the adrenaline wore off, that I started to stiffen up and assess more of the damage. We drove to Munising the night after the race, slept there (terribly as I couldn't get comfortable) and realized my right deltoid is bruised (can barely lift my right shoulder overhead), I couldn't take a deep breath cuz the left side of my back and chest hurt, and had additional minor bruising. That was by far the worst crash I have ever been in and hope to never be in that kind of heap again! The season is over for me and not exactly the way I wanted to finish it, but again I am pleased with my effort and that I didn't give up.

We were both really thankful for the Lalonde's being willing to transport some of our clothing to the finish line, for DJ getting me settled down and twisting my bars back at the start after I crashed, and for DJ and Wendy also for giving us a ride back to the start of the race where our car was parked. They also gave us my marathon overall and wors overall prizes, which they were nice enough to pick up for me at the wors awards ceremony a month back.

Scott and I have been super busy (who isn't?) with teaching, coaching, and still riding our bikes some. The weather these past few weeks have been perfect for training and enjoying the fall. Today we woke to snow on the ground - about a 1/2 inch. If I were younger, I would have probably dusted off my rock skies and skied around our yard. I hear the U.P. should/is getting some snow. Should make our drive to Traverse City interesting, much less we'll see what happens for race day conditions. I am not ready for 30 or less degree weather. Our house was frozen this morning. Our cats were fighting for which one got to sit on my lap - there wasn't room for both.

Coaching the ski team at CSS is going well. Scott and I are both taking a day or two a week. I love coaching! It's fantastic working with athletes wanting to get better and fun to dust off those cobwebs of information! The athletes and rest of the coaching staff are great! Both Scott and I look forward to getting on real snow.

Bike training is going as well as can be expected this time of year. I have taken a lot of days off, started running and hiking and rollerskiing with the team to break things up. After this next race I'll hope to take some time off from the bike entirely, although I took about two weeks off after Sheboygan. I was feeling too shot, run down, and not excited about riding. It's gotta be fun!

Lots to do...more research for the next case study due. Three down and three to go for my graduate class. I've done more research this fall than I can remember. It takes a lot of time. Combine that with the lack of home internet service and thus the reason its taken me almost a month to update this blog!

On saturday morning when Scott and I left Duluth it was 50 degrees and foggy. By the time we got to Chippewa to meet Doug, it was 80 degrees - hot and humid! Thankfully, we rode in air conditioned comfort (Doug's car) the rest of the way to Sheboygan. It would have been a pretty uneventful trip, except we almost had to get our preride in in the middle of nowhere. We couldn't find a gas station after the needle hit empty and all the low gas alarms no longer went off. Doug was figeting, Scott was laughing, I was trying to think of how long I could ride before I'd swelter in the heat.

Jumping out of the car in Sheboygan was like jumping into a sauna. Hot and humid. Sticky. We were greeted by Mr. Anderson offering a wet 'wonder dog' to snuggle up to. We got kitted up and rode the course a coupld of times for tomorrow's race. Scott and Doug were going faster than I wanted to go, but they'd wait for me every now and then. My legs felt bad at first, but then loosened up. Probably a remnant of the long car ride. I was not looking forward to the race next day - I had not ridden much in the past few weeks. My legs are tired and we have really been enjoying hiking in the woods instead. We got some good food that night and some good rest. The luxury of cable afforded a movie in the AM to settle my nerves before the race.

We got to the race a bit early so Scott cleaned my brakes. Amazing what a difference that made. My bike felt faster than it had it weeks! I got an OK start. I was in third going towards the prime and I wasn't going to contest it, but the gal in the lead got caught by the group and then I got around Sue to get the prime. Jenna flew by me just before the single track. The elite men were waiting to get into the single track and so we had to wait as well. Jenna got in the line of men first then myself with with a few guys between. I got around those guys to bridge back up to Jenna. It was tough to get around the men in the single track and we had to wait until an open spot to get by. We were going really fast that first lap and then Kyia got past Jenna and me running the steep up while we rode the switchback. She was flying. We were all three together as Kyia cleaned the Equilizer, while Jenna and I ran up the rest of the way and had to bridge back up to Kyia. All three of us were still together for another 1/2 lap or so. I was riding behind Kyia with Jenna in the lead. Jenna got a little gap on us so I went around Kyia to bridge back up to Jenna. We were still all together for a while, but I am not sure for how long. I was trying to drink as much as possible each lap. I felt pretty bad the first lap, but then started to feel better after that. I knew I had to be a little careful in the heat. I would get by Jenna here and there and she would attack on the longer uphill past me and get by me before the singletrack. I yelled to let Jenna know her extra tube was dangling down towards her front wheel spokes while going up the hill after the water crossing in the last lap. I told her I would not attack as she had to fix it. I rode ahead, but knew she would catch me again. I didn't know how far Kyia and the rest of the women were behind so I couldn't afford to stop. This is racing! Jenna caught back on and got by again before the last section of singletrack with the switchback. We rode together - Jenna in front, up the equilizer - both of us running and Jenna just edging me out for front wheel on the remount. I passed Jenna on the 'Sheboygan Slickrock' and got into the last small section of singletrack first. I had to get through the sand cleanly, but inadvertanly shifted down one gear too low and had to spin through too much. Jenna must have been too close and I heard her unclip. I knew I had to go right then otherwise it would be a full out sprint at the end. She is fast and can bridge a gap quickly, so I went as hard as I could and was surprised when she didn't catch me. I was pretty pleased to take the win. Fantastic competition.

On the way home we were all rockin' to 80's music. Gotta love the big hair bands and the one hit wonders.


Today after work Scott and I went for a great hike along Chester Bowl. The creek is rushing and higher than I have ever seen it with the trail alongside the creek showing signs of having been underwater.

This weekend we were down in South Kettle Moraine for the Fall Color Festival. The 'timed event' course was changed from last year to include 10 miles on the connector and with two blue Muir loops and an additional part of the red loop the race was about 35 miles long. Scott tried out some tires that he had not tried before. They are very fast and similar to the 'crows', or as I call them 'lucky charms' (which are not so lucky as if it is slick at all - there is big risk of going down - right Charlie?) The course must have had a heavy dew, or rain the days leading up to this saturday. There were a few big mud puddles with difficulty in some spots getting around them.

Doug, Scott, and Tristan did the 30 mile race - along with about 50 other people. I rode two + loops (about 25 miles)before volunteering out with the women's clinic. I had a blast. There were 20 enthusiastic women looking to improve their bike skills. It was fun to work with the other women. I would definitely do that again! I got in about 35 miles of riding, despite having to 'work'. That was great. My legs were a bit tired from the previous day's ride in Eau Claire with Doug and Scott. They were flying through the single track while I attempted to keep up. It was really fun!

Scott didn't have a very good day - as he crashed twice due to his tire selection and caught himself about eight more times from going down. Doug won with his 1x9 combination. He was pretty fired up about it. We had a good trip down and back. We had excellent accommodations and good dinner the night before.

This past Sunday Scott, our friend Joe and I headed to Iola to race. The about 5 hr drive was pretty uneventful. I was a bit nervous to test out my legs as I had not been on my bike in a week. My legs felt really bad after (and during) Cheq, so I took the week off and just walked and hiked instead. The fall colors are near peak and I love hiking in the woods with the leaves on the trail. McFaddens have joined us a few times, including little Bodee.

I had a nice chat with Lori S. that improved my spirits prior to warming up. The women got to start 15 sec again behind the men. I really like that format! We caught up to tail end of the men at the top of the first climb. I did not pre-ride the course and there was more sand than I remember earlier this year. The first long downhill was full of bumps and it was difficult to get around some of the men. One guy was trying to fight me for position, would get ahead of me, then slow down on the downhills. I tried to be a bit patient and finally stayed ahead of him not even half way into a lap. The singletrack was really fun and I felt I could go pretty hard on the ski trail. I was not climbing as well as I would have liked - it was like the long season was catching up with me on the climbs. Another week or two of rest should help. I led from the start of the race and was never challenged, adding a minute to my lead each lap. It was fun to race a shorter race. Michelle P. was very nice to agree to do hand-ups for Scott and I. I was so lucky that I got enough cytomax during the race as I got really not the third lap. Duluth has not been so warm lately and the upper 70s temp was a bit of a shock.

There was one section in the trail that was particularily sandy in the singletrack while riding uphill that it just sucked the life out of my legs for about 20 seconds. I almost went down once as I got too close to a sandy ledge along the singletrack, but saved myself from going down by riding sideways for a few seconds. The guy behind me was impressed. There is so much less congestion starting where the women start, which is really nice. No more fighting with comp men to let us pass.

Scott had a good ride, but chose too easy of a gear on the singlespeed. He rode a 34x19; he should have had a 34x17. He lost a few spots by not being able to go as fast as he would have liked on the ski trail portions of the racecourse. His next project is turning that bike into a 1x9.

Next off this weekend is the Fall Color Festival. Scott and my teammates will be racing. I'll be helping with the women's clinic and women's ride. I'm fired up. Should be a good time. I heard they changed the trails there some and made them even better. Should be good to see.

To answer CP Farrow's comment - Scott is fired up to race Bushy's single speed 29er tomorrow at Iola. His back and hamstrings have gotten worked over this past week, but the ride is worth it. Scott already has a little tatoo to boot - that little kokapelli biker guy on his left ankle. I don't think he'll be converted to a single speed for good, but his Kelly 29er is going up for sale.

The Chequamemgon is over. Today I skipped the criterium to test ride a Trek 69er instead. I had so much fun! Scott and I rode the Ojibwe trail. The 69er was a blast. I could go fast on the corners and over roots and rocks. If anyone gets a chance to ride one, I highly recommend it! It'd be a great bike for WORS courses.

At the start of the Cheq 40 on Saturday, it was around 40 degrees. It took my body a while to get warm while warming up. My toes were cold until the gun went off - then I forgot to think about them anymore. I had a really good position on the paved lead-out and once we hit 77 the lead four-wheelers let the race start - so the speeds were higher on the pavement than in past years. There was a crash after about a mile on the pavement to my right and just behind me. I was in very good position going into and then out of Rosie's Field, probably the best start ever. I didn't know where the other women were until Sue Haywood passed me and then Jenna. All three of us went back and forth for the next 20 miles. It was fun and fast. We were in kinda a weird group of guys that didn't get that we women were racing against each other for the overall. They would cut us off, make bad turns and then crash, ride straight through these big mud puddles when there was a nice dry line around, but mostly not realize that we were racing against each other and not them.

For some reason with about 16 miles to go I got dropped on a road section. I was just feeling bad at that particular time and lost my group. Sue and Jenna probably put a minute on me in the next mile. I took some gel, cytomax and kept trying to push, but it was like I was breathing hard and going no where. My legs were protesting. I didn't start too fast and I kept thinking I'll start to feel better again. Then Lea Davison passed me. I was trying to stay in it and still hoping to work my way back to the lead group and the podium. I'd try to latch on to guys that were passing me. I caught up with my teammate Doug and he tried to pull me up to the next group, but I could not hang on. I just felt bad. Then Kyia passed me going fast. I kept trying to push, but the legs wouldn't go and I couldn't make myself work any harder. Kinda like bonking, but not really. It felt like my HR just dropped and wouldn't get back up to race pace again.

So I finished fifth. My worst place ever, but 'only' 3 minutes down from first. I was sure I lost at least five minutes with how slow I was going those last 15 miles or so. I guess I should feel lucky that I finished at all. It is hard not to be a bit bummed as I would have liked to feel better. I just like to race fast and did, but for only 1/2 the race. I don't have to tell anyone how hard it is to win the Chequamegon. There are so many things that have to go right and many other things not to go wrong. It is a long race and anything can happen.

It was good to hang out with all the Trek people - we have a really good group - along with the midwest racers. Scott was in heaven as Telemark Lodge has a Ms. Pacman video game that he, Doug, and Dan were trying to conquer. I think the game won this round.

By the way if anyone is looking to buy a certificate for a new Thule multipurpose roof rack system AND one 517 Peloton Bike Carrier. Retail price roughly $300. Sale price: 1/2 of new (roughly $150 or B.O.)

I have been trying to get rested up these past few weeks. My legs felt pretty bad for about two weeks after the Seeley/Rhinelander double-header weekend. I would have one good day, and then several bad ones or days where I didn't want to ride, which is quite unusual. Work has been really busy and my days kinda long that combined with the decrease in daylight has been a bit of a bummer. I had to ride the trainer last night for the first time since last winter. I ride very little on the trainer during the winter and never in the summer, but sometimes I just have to do what I have to do to get my legs moving. The fall is getting really cold, we have had days with lows in the 30s commonly and highs in 50s to low 60s this week. It's been a bit of a shock. In Duluth every fall the mice like to find a nice warm house to occupy once it starts getting cold. I found mouse droppings in our bathroom vanity drawer a few days ago. The next morning our cats has a nice little dead 'gift' for us when we woke up. Our girl cat went over to the dead mouse picked it up with her teeth and shook it around one more time to emphasize the superiority of her mousing skills. She is probably the one that actually made the kill, as our boy cat just likes to chase them and then will get bored if the mouse stops moving.

The next few weekends will be busy. This weekend is the Cheq and then there are races every weekend thereafter for about a month. Then the Iceman in early Nov. I am hoping to keep my race shape through the fall and hope the weather warms up a bit. CX season starts soon and I have a Trek OX2 just waiting for me to race. My OX2 is my first choice to ride in the spring with the addition of fenders. I am looking forward to racing again this weekend as I have taken a few weekends off. I need racing to keep me motivated and honest about my training. Otherwise, I would probably just ride as much as I wanted all the time and maybe torch myself. I love riding my bike.

Happy Labor Day everyone! For those of us that return to the classroom, our labor is about to begin! Teaching is full-on once the semester starts. I will be taking one graduate class while teaching this fall. I like it already (of course I had to get a head start reading due to the long weekend).

Yesterday my parents threw a 65th birthday party for my Uncle from California. It was great to see my cousins, aunts and uncles along with my siblings and their children. I am the 6th of 7 children, so it was quite a party. Scott stayed home. He recently found out he has giardia. He'll start on antibiotics tomorrow. No wonder his racing DNF rate is over 50% this year. That little bug is taking all his energy! He was planning on heading to the Maplelag MNSCS race this past weekend, but decided with how he was feeling he'd probably DNF. It is too bad that neither of us could do the race. We both love that race and racecourse!

Last week I took quite a few days off from the bike. My legs felt aweful after racing two races last weekend. I finally got back on the bike on Thurs, then had to take Friday off (went for a little hike instead) and then felt pretty good on Sat and fine on Sun riding easy. The racing season takes its toll and I still have four or more races left, depending upon CX. Duluth hosts its CX race Oct 13th, so we'll both probably do that. We'll see. Today we plan on riding with an old high school friend from my XC ski racing days and owner of one of my WORS series Gary Fisher bikes (prize for the overall). The trails are in really good shape. We have gotten a bit of rain so they are no longer dusty, but rather setting up very nicely.

My guess is that the fall colors will peak early due to the dry weather. Hopefully, my tomato's will ripen before the fall thaw. I have a ton of green tomato's right now. My green peppers are producing, they are very little - about a 1/4 size of those in the store, and taste so much better. Hopefully, next year we will have even a bigger garden and more berry plants. We should have quite the little produce farm to replace our lawn! The neighbor put up a fence partially cuz I think they were tired of looking at our 8' high deer netting with fluorescent flaggin on it around our garden. It does camoflauge it nicely from their view.

Should be a pretty busy week getting used to a new schedule, learning all the new student's names and riding when I can.

Last Friday we headed down to Seeley, WI to stay with M&M the night before the Seeley Prefat race. We got there later than we had planned, but had a nice dinner and chat with our friends. Their hospitatilty is always outstanding.

We rode our bikes to the start of the race Saturday AM. I didn't get as much of a warm-up as I would have liked, but I guess that was OK. We could ride a combination of pavement and gravel to the start and it wasn't far away by bike. We met Scott's dad and brother at the start, both of which were doing the race.

The start of the race was a little sketchy this year. The start was pretty slow. Scott's brother Brad just rode off the front. Pretty characteristic of him while the pack stayed together. Some guy started leaning into me during a straight stretch on the pavement lead out. I held my line, so that was fine. Good thing this wasn't my first mass start as one of us, or both, could have easily gone down. We hit the first uphill and I felt like I was going backward. My legs didn't respond. I went from front to midpack. Then we hit the first trail uphill and I was still barely moving. I worked my way up slowly to the pack of guys I settled in with - it was a group of fellow Trek rider and Ski Hut guys. Good group as we worked together well. We were all together until the first section on singletrack. I got around on guy ahead of me and then was second in the line going through the singletrack. By the time myself and the guy ahead of me got out we had a huge gap on the rest of the group. I knew I had to race the next day, so I was trying to conserve some energy and we rode the ski trail and stayed together. I lost him on the last section of singletrack I think mostly to me trying to conserve for tomorrow's race knowing that I was ahead of the next woman by some time. The race was between 25-28 miles long. I finished first for the women and 12th in the overall results. Scott was 6th and his brother 7th. Scott felt pretty bad during his race, but hung in there to finish it off and get a bit of prize money. I won this really cool wall hanging that has a hygrometer, thermometer and barometer made out of wood, complete with tree bark and a roof. My friend and hostess, Michelle, was second. Good job, Michelle!

Scott and I discussed prior to the race that I should not race due to the WORS marathon on Sunday of the same weekend. But, we both love the race course, like to support local race organizers and Tom Gaier does a great job pulling this race together. His son won the men's race over Jeff Hall and TJ Woodruff in the sprint.

So, on Sunday M& M, Scott and I jumped into the van and headed to Rhinelander for the WORS marathon. We got there a little later than anticipated and got a short warm-up before a long, 42 mile race. I was cursing myself during the first two laps for racing the previous day. My legs and body was very tired. The start of the woman's race was pretty slow, but I realized my legs were not climbing well, so I hung back with the pack until the first section of singletrack. I got to the front, never looked back, and had a considerable gap by the end of that first section. The singletrack was really bummpy. My triceps and back got a bit sore. Had I known it was so bummy I would have softened by suspension a bit more. I felt bad for those riding fully rigid and hardtails. It must have been kinda brutal in sections for those riders. The full-suspension made a big difference. I got passed by two groups of comp riders during the second lap, which was quite a bit earlier than normal. I finally could hang on to the third group and stuck with them for the last two laps. They were riding better on the uphills and flats, but I catch back on on the downhills and singletrack. I started to actually feel better the last lap where I felt like I was racing. I wish I would have kept track of my lap times, I am sure my last lap was the fastest. Scott felt really bad during the first lap of his race, and decided to call it a day. Luckily, I got a bottle of Cytomax from him as I was running out. I perked up quite a bit and I attibute my being able to race that last lap to his hand-up. I won this race and the Marathon Series overall.

This past week I have focused on getting my legs recovered and back to their normal energetic state. I also started teaching again, so I am getting used to a new schedule. I am also going back to school to get my transitional DPT degree at St. Scholastica, where I teach, so it should be a pretty busy school year.

So it was off to Mount Morris last Friday (a week ago - yeah, I am really bad at updating sometimes!). I couldn't find anyone from Duluth that wanted to go and I couldn't talk my teammate, Doug, into changing his plans which is completely understandable. I'd want to be where my loved one was too. Speaking of such, Scott stayed home to race at Spirit Mtn, so I got to drive alone which wasn't so bad. It was pretty quiet except for my Ipod. I can't remember the last time I went to a race by myself. It is not nearly as much fun without Scott! I tell Scott all the time that if he stops racing, maybe I would too. Although, he is THE BEST water boy so as long as he would still be up to the task and want to come along I would probably still race. I want to be like Scott's dad, Irv, when I get older. He is 68 and still racing. He did the Spirit Mtn race this weekend and ended up second in his class of 50 and older. The guy that beat him is 'only' 60. Pretty cool. Irv doesn't really care to race fast, he just likes to go downhill and through the technical stuff fast and then 'get the uphills over with'. Guess I would feel the same at almost 70.

So I got to the race venue after 5 hrs in the car. The course is brand-new. Don, from WORS, saide 300 volunteer hrs went into making the course and he hopes to bring the race back each year and build upon what they did this year. It is a 4.8 mile loop. Kinda interesting trail in that it cloverleaf's in, out and near the start so that spectators can see the racers often throughout the race. The start is a pretty slow uphill. Then there is a lot of switchbacks both up and downhill through rocky and smooth singletrack. There were a few roots, but not bad and the course slowly climbs the downhill with plenty of opportunity to pass other riders as the course goes in and out of the woods. It also had some flat sections and then an infamous bridge over this tree about 10 feet into the air. Thankfully, there was a trail around it as I still avoid bridges when I can - probably due to Scott's accident a few year's back.

I was a little sad on my pre-ride cuz I was riding alone, but things perked up on race day when I started to run into fellow racers, our team manager Chris, and teammate Tristan. Tristan was back racing. Chris brought the infamous Travis Brown with him and along with the Lalonde brothers, we had quite a nice group. It was overcast while I was getting ready and once I started my warm-up it started sprinkling. I wasn't worried about rain cuz Duluth hasn't seen much rain all summer (we're in a drought) and I just didn't think it would rain.

The men's race started and 5 min later the women's race started. I was expecting to see a few more Pro women there, but Sue Juedes showed up along with the rest of the WORS regulars. We had a nice and pretty big group of women! It was really good to see Sue - she's looking really fit. Our race started in a light rain, but I didn't think it would continue to rain. The course was slippery as some (most?) of the corners are on a downhill slant and along with the grass and powdery dirt that turned to slippery topsoil once saturated enough, the course got more slippery each lap. The first two laps we OK, but the third lap I went down on this steep right hand turn due to the off-camber nature and the soaked grass. I didn't make that mistake twice. I rode at the front from the start and was never seriously challenged, although with the nature of the course, it looked the the other racers were closer than they were. My legs felt a bit tired yet from the Ore to Shore, but I was pleased with my effort for the day. I finished almost 6 minutes up on the second place women.

It rained the rest of the day through the Comp, Sport and Citizen races with the course deteriorating with each lap. Luckily, Wendy needed a warm place to sleep and DJ was nice enough for me to help him change my tires to mud tires for the expected races on sunday. Wendy and I had a great chat and nice dinner at the bar of the hotel with our choice of either 'pizza or cheese sticks'. Pretty funny that was it on the menu. But it was late and we needed to get to bed. DJ hung back at the race venue to sleep with the dogs.

We showed up the next morning - after finding the biggest cup of coffee I have ever had - for the time trial and short track. After the race meeting with Don and the other racers, the course had not recovered enough from the previous day's race to allow us to race! Bummer. So by 9 AM that morning I was back in the car and heading towards home. Dj and Wendy hooked me up with some homegrown tomotoes (which are great on salty pizza and omletes) and nice Clif bar parting gifts. If I got back in time I would get to see part of Scott's race. It was pouring rain at times on the way home. At times it felt like I was in a waterfall mist - it was so white all around. I had not seen it rain like this since last spring! By the time I got to Spooner it had let up and by the time I got home, the ground was still dry and dusty. I got to see Scott race his last lap at Spirit (the race was 2.5 laps long). He was in a group of 5 guys coming around his last lap. I was really hoping he'd he'd come through first of the group up the last singletrack climb, but he started cramping and by the time he hit the finish, lost about 2 minutes to his group. It was fun to watch him race! Jeff Hall loved the course and would really like it if we hosted a NORBA national. This is his type of course and I think he could podium on this course.

So, it is off to Seeley for the Pre-fat and then to Rhinelander for the last of the WORS marathon races.

This week I have been focusing on recovering from the Ore to Shore. I rode easy on Monday and then due to work and poor sleep was not able to get back on my bike until today. I rode the Spirit Mountain race course for the race happening this Sunday as part of the MNSCS series. The course is fantastic! It has two new switchbacks - one going uphill in the pines (instead of a steep climb that 99% of riders had to run anyway) and one downhill to prevent erosion. The side of the hill that was disappearing has been re-bench cut with a nice retaining wall. The noteable "Puker" uphill has been replaced by a singletrack uphill that courses along the creek. It is a fantastic uphill, in the shade and challenging in spots - much more exciting than the long grind up the gravel uphill. The course will then take riders to a section of trail that has not been part of the race course previously. It will cross a creek several times. The course should be a 2/3 loop followed by two full loops. A nice change from the five laps the Elite class normally gets to enjoy. Spirit Mountain is a real mountain bikers course. Full of roots and rocks, fast descents, switchbacks, tricky climbs and downhills and fantastic scenery (not that you'll have time to enjoy it during the race). I wish I could race it, but our regional team has the WORS cup this weekend instead. Good luck to all the riders this weekend!

Scott, my teammate Doug, and I packed ourselves, along with all three bikes, inside the car and left for Marquette Friday morning for the Ore to Shore 48 mile Saturday. Doug stayed at our house the night before and got to experience the natural air conditioning of our basement spare bedroom accommodations. Little did he know he would miss that on the drive over. Once we got to Marquette, we did a quick pre-ride and then headed to dinner with the Eppens and Chris Shaw.

Neither Scott nor I got any sleep that night. Our hotel was really loud and our room was next to the laundry room - we could hear the washer and dryer running part of the night. Our room was too hot, then too cold. I got up twice to adjust the temperature. I am still not sure if I slept at all. I was trying to not get worked up while trying to sleep that night and reminded myself that I am still laying down and resting, even though sleep escaped me.

Scott went out for breakfast as I always bring my own from home and brought me back a coffee. Not the best coffee, but a nice way to start the day after a sleepless night. We joined Doug and Chris and headed over to the race start. Luckily, it was not hot. I was really nervous, but was trying not to get wigged out. I had not raced in a month, took a whole week off the bike during that time, and I cannot remember the last time I have done an interval. I was wondering if I could go fast at all. During the warmup my legs felt a little sluggish, but I wasn't expecting them to feel like rock stars. I did a few hard efforts to test things out and spun my legs out before awaiting the start.

I lined up second row and got a pretty good position. The lead-out car kept everyone tight and I was suprised that the start wasn't faster. The race truely started once the lead car pulled off the road and the race proceeded onto two track. Kyia was ahead of me on the paved sections, but I was only two riders behind her. Gabor passed me on the road as well. I was sitting in third going into the two track. I got in front of Gabor, but I didn't actually see her as I passed and then slowly pulled in Kyia. I got by her just before the first climb and could hear her breathing behind me as we climbed up the steepest part of the hill and as the course turns left, then right and then I couldn't hear her anymore. I didn't look back. I kept passing guys as I climbed to the top and then was chasing the guys in front of me to get into a good group. I was working my way up through the pack when Ron Raymond, now riding a Gary Fisher complete with kit, comes by me and yells for me to 'hang on'. I hung on the best I could for as long as I could. We cat and moused a little bit due to the deep sandy sections and the climbs. I'd catch back up on the technical descents and then try to hang on during the flat sections. Ron was a great alli to have out there. There was another guy that was working with us and then our group tended to work together, then break up a bit, then come back together. Later in the race some guys caught us and then didn't want to do any work; pulling the old person card. Ron dropped us all then and just started flying with about 8 miles to go. I was starting to feel my legs want to cramp wirh about 13 miles to go so I forced myself to slow down a bit, drink more, and just hold onto the lead while avoiding full-blown cramping. My right quad partially seized for a bit and thankfully let go.

Scott and Chris were instrumental during the race, providing both Doug and I with handups. I ran out of Cytomax about 5 miles before the first handup and started to suffer a bit. I got my hand-up and ran out again. I was forcing myself to drink everything. I had to get two bottles for the third hand-up and downed one while Scott was running next to me up the blacktop hill in order to get the bottle when I was done. Climbing, sucking down gel, and drinking as fast as I can so I don't lose my group and get dropped on the hill. I ran out again before the last hand-up and again had to grab a bottle, drink part of a second bottle while Scott ran alongside in order to get when I was done. I had to get enough fluids to prevent full-blown cramping that happened the first two times I raced this race. I was impressed with the Fuel and how it ran in the sand. I kinda like the sand as it is the only type of technical riding where I have any chance at passing Scott during a training ride. It was incredibly dusty on the trail and according to locals, Marquette hadn't had rain in three weeks! They were having an unusual dry summer. Much dryer than last year. The conditions showed it. I don't remember riding in that much sand for long stretches of time. My time was slower than last year and last year I felt really bad during the entire race.

This is a really long, tough race. There are so many things that have to go right, and not go wrong that it could be anyone's day. Kyia is a tough competitor and I know I am always going to have to ride fast when she shows up. I have to bring my 'A' game to these big races and I was nervous that I would not be able to go fast due to some of the races I have had this year where I have felt just terrible. I am lucky that I was able to go fast enough during this race to win. Doug didn't have such a good race as he took a wrong turn and lost a ton of time. I am sure his blog will have an interesting race recap.

With the awards not until 6:30pm, Scott still got a ride in at the Mount Marquette (South) Trails. They are full of fantastic singletrack and start behind the Nordic Bad Lodge. Our friend, Michelle, joined him as she DNF'd due to flat. Not much of a birthday present for her, as I am sure she would have been on the podium.

We got home at 1 am after the race. Some fellow racers had hit a deer, losing one headlight, so we escorted them as far as Duluth. They were headed to St. Cloud and can't believe they were continuing on. It was early in the morning! Unfortunately, I didn't sleep in very long and have been in a fog all day. I must be overtired as I have been unable to fall asleep after several attempts at a nap. No riding for me today. My head is so tired I would probably hit a tree, or worse.

Scott and I took a week off from riding and got back on the bikes last Monday with the ski hut ride. That ride is always fun cuz we just chat with our friends and get to know any newcomers. We both also had to go back to work last week, which I was surprisingly ok with. It is nice to have a break, but it also nice to feel productive. I am battling a little poison ivy - for the third time this year. It is on my back and I didn't realize what itched so bad for about a week. I can't reach the area to scratch it or tell what it was. I thought I got bit by a bug while gardening, but evidently I must have gotten it on my bike jersey or shorts somehow during our vacation. I tried to ignore it until finally I asked Scott to put some Tecnu on it. A few more applications and it should be gone.

I have been just riding easy this week and taking rest days when needed. I am feeling really tired today. Sundays are not usually rest days, but my energy levels are so low that I will focus on training tomorrow instead. The Ore to Shore is coming up and I want to feel fresh. I have found that I tend to overdo my training, so I am trying to err on the other side of the spectrum instead. My legs have been feeling the best they have in months. Granted I am just riding easy, but I have had problems with my legs burning evening during easy rides prior to taking some time off. I am feeling much better. It can be a challenge balancing work and training and I think most people try to cram it all in and forget to get proper rest. I try to remind myself that training should make myself faster...not just tired, and not overly tired making getting through a regular day tough. I've been there during my XC ski days at NMU. Dragging my butt through training, school and having zero social life as I didn't have energy for anything else. That sucked! Doug plans on riding over with us to Marquette, so the ride should go pretty quickly. He can be pretty entertaining.

Scott watched a Twins game with Dan S and Jesse R the other night and also scoped out the I-35W bridge collapse. They couldn't get very close to the site due to the police guarding a large area surrounding the bridge. Scott's brother lives only 5-6 blocks from the bridge, so we were pretty thankful he was at work during the time the bridge fell. It is so sad the people that have died.

I have not been blogging much due to not riding much, but also due to building huge gardens in our lawn. We are working to get rid of our lawn. We plan on growing berries and vegetables and prevent using our gas lawn mower. We hope to have so little lawn left that we can use our reel (human-powered only) mower for the entire lawn. We no longer have much of a front or south side lawn. Our back lawn is also in the process of conversion and then we have a huge field we'll convert next year. I love garden work, although I am not very good at it. The deer also really appreciate my efforts, so this year I put up an eight foot deer fence. Now the bunnies and the chippies seem to still get in. I don't want to poison them, so I'll have to find another solution to that problem.